Aakuta: the Dark Mage (31 page)

“So when I arrived,” chuckled Katzu, “you already controlled all of the parties of the dispute. Small wonder you were happy not to have me involved.”

“It does not end there,” said Lord Marak. “Fardale’s last neighbor, the Ragatha, saw my agreement in Watula Valley as a sign of weakness. While they had no idea what happened in the discussions, they were quite sure that I had been forced to give up something valuable to achieve peace. Using an old contract dispute as a basis for conflict, Lord Zawbry of Woodville requested that the Ragatha clan amass for an attack and wipe me out. To make matters worse, Lord Marshal Grefon of the Situ clan promised that they would not make a move to protect me.”

“Did you also sneak into their estate and capture him?” asked the mediator.

“The conflict with the Ragatha was not bloodless,” frowned Lord Marak. “While we managed to keep the losses to a minimum, many a man died that day. Lord Sevrin was surprised, though. He could not understand why the Sorgan and Litari clans were aligned against him.”

“Because he was unaware of your secret alliances,” nodded Katzu. “Very clever, Lord Marak. That is how you managed to obtain Woodville from them?”

“Yes,” answered Lord Marak, “but Woodville is not all I got out of the conflict. The Ragatha clan is also sworn to me.”

“Blessed Khadora!” gasped Katzu. “The Ragatha clan is an old clan and well respected. While not as powerful as the clans of the Imperial Valley, their position on things is often noted.”

“I also control the Situ clan,” added Lord Marak. “After your mediation in Lituk Valley, Lord Ridak sent all of his forces to Fardale to crush me. He was not happy with your ruling.”

“Lord Ridak requested the mediation,” frowned Katzu. “To then act against it is a foul deed. Suddenly, Lord Marak, the peace I have noticed in your area of the frontier becomes quite understandable. You control all of the clans there.”

“To a degree,” shrugged Lord Marak. “I have retained each clan’s identity. I believe this is important to Khadora. Each of my clans has prospered under my edicts. None of them have slaves, and yet they are all more profitable than before.”

“You may have a hard time selling that issue to the Lords’ Council,” sighed Katzu, “but you have made a believer out of me. Tell me that you are not planning to go alone to capture Lord Patel.”

“I would if I thought I would succeed,” frowned Lord Marak, “but that is not possible. Lord Patel has hundreds of his best-trained troops at this estate. I am not so foolish that I imagine I could beat such troops.”

“Then why are you here?” inquired Katzu.

“I expect his troops to leave,” grinned Lord Marak. “You are aware that Lord Marshal Orik based the ambushers at his Deep Bend estate?”

“Yes,” nodded Katzu.

“Torak troops have seized that estate,” announced Lord Marak. “Lord Patel will learn of this around midday today.”

“You have declared war on a member of the Lords’ Council,” sighed the mediator. “He will crush you with everything he has.”

“That is exactly the reaction that I expect,” grinned Lord Marak. “His best troops will ride out of here before dusk. Tonight Lord Patel will be captured by the Torak clan.”

“You are mad,” scowled Katzu. “The Nordon clan has large armies at many of his estates. Even if he sends the troops from this estate, he will bring troops here from his other estates to protect him. Your plan cannot succeed. Meanwhile your people in Deep Bend are being set out as a sacrifice. They will be destroyed for sure.”

“You may be right,” responded Lord Marak, “but I hope not. Every lord surrounds himself with his best troops. Lord Patel is no different. If he seeks to eradicate the Torak clan, he will use these troops. The question appears to be the timing of events. I have arranged for him to receive word of the attack at Deep Bend at midday for a reason.”

“What do you think he will do, Lord Marak?” asked the mediator. “Tell me what you see Lord Patel doing when he gets word of your attack at Deep Bend.”

“The first thing he will do,” Lord Marak replied, “is order Lord Marshal Orik to ready his men. He will also try to determine my whereabouts. He will not waste troops just to retake Deep Bend without continuing onward to eradicate the Torak clan. He will find out that I am no longer in the capital.”

“This is why you left in the middle of the night?” asked Katzu.

“Exactly,” nodded Lord Marak. “Lord Patel was most curious as to my date of departure from Khadoratung. I suspect that he planned to assassinate me on my journey home. So I wanted to get out of the city without alerting his spies, but I also want him to know that I left the city on the day that I did. He will inquire to determine if I am still in the Imperial Palace and learn that I left a while ago.”

“You want him to think that you are in Deep Bend?” questioned the mediator.

“Yes,” nodded Lord Marak. “I had an Imperial guard sent to watch me everyday. He will have noted the day I turned up absent, although he would have no reason to alert anyone other than Marshal Chack. Lord Patel’s spies would have missed me leaving, but inquiries will reveal when I left.”

“Clever,” nodded Katzu. “What will he do next?”

“He will see the need for protection here,” admitted Lord Marak. “He will order troops from another estate to report here to replace the men he will be sending to Deep Bend.”

“Without a doubt,” agreed Katzu, “and that is where your plan fails.”

“I don’t think so,” grinned Lord Marak. “I suspect that Lord Marshal Orik will see the opportunity to get a good half-day’s march in before dusk. He will order his troops to depart as soon as they are ready. The replacement troops from his nearest estate are over a half-day’s ride. I suspect that they will not ride through the night to get here, so they will not arrive until tomorrow morning.”

“Giving you the window of opportunity that you need,” nodded Katzu. “What if you are wrong? What if the replacement troops ride through the night?”

“Then we shall attack them instead,” frowned Lord Marak. “I would prefer not to do that, but I would have to.”

“Attack them?” Katzu shook his head. “There are likely to be six to eight cortes of replacement troops coming here. You have two cortes. You can’t be serious about attacking them? How will you even know if they are coming?”

“Oh, I will know if they are coming,” smiled Lord Marak as he thought about StarWind’s assignment. The Sakovan would not only provide advanced notice of Nordon troop movements, she was quite capable of delaying them by destroying bridges or blocking roads. “As for the odds in battle, my men are trained to fight at night. Do you think those replacement troops are?”

“Probably not,” Katzu conceded, “but the odds are still long. Alright assuming that you can get to Lord Patel, that still leaves you sacrificing your two cortes at Deep Bend. You say that your people are precious to you. Are you so quick to have them destroyed?”

“I hope to have the attacking troops recalled by Lord Patel,” answered Lord Marak, “but I am prepared for a battle at Deep Bend if it is necessary.”

“Prepared for a battle?” retorted the mediator. “How do you prepare two cortes to face the bulk of Lord Patel’s army? He will have at least a dozen cortes attacking.”

“And I will have ten cortes defending,” smiled Lord Marak. “The odds are not so slanted.”

“Ten cortes?” echoed Katzu. “Where will you get ten cortes from?”

“How quickly you forget,” grinned Lord Marak. “The Assembly of Lords is over, and everyone is on their way home. The Situ, Ragatha, Sorgan, and Litari clans are traveling with two cortes each. They will be near Deep Bend at the very time that Lord Patel’s troops arrive.”

Katzu’s jaw dropped as Lord Marak’s words sunk in. “You have planned this well, Lord Marak,” he said. “The Nordon will not even suspect that the other clans owe their allegiance to you. Just the confusion alone during the battle will cost Lord Patel a great number of men. They will not understand what they are up against.”

“The problem is,” Lord Marak sighed, “I do not wish to kill a great number of Nordon. I would prefer to end this with as little bloodshed as possible.”

“Agreed,” nodded Katzu. “Do you plan to offer Lord Patel the same deal that was extended to your other clans?”

“I do,” declared Lord Marak. “That is why it is essential to have you here. Lord Patel will not be easily intimidated. If he thinks he can use the Lords’ Council to invalidate his vows to me, there will be unnecessary deaths.”

“Meaning you will have to kill Lord Patel?” questioned the mediator.

“I would have little choice,” Lord Marak frowned as he nodded. “I would have to destroy the Nordon clan. If he knows that you are a witness to his transgressions, though, I believe that he will accept his fate.”

“I hope you are right, Lord Marak,” Katzu responded. “The Nordon are a founding clan of Khadora. I also see a problem with you controlling two seats on the Lords’ Council. Do you think that is fair?”

“Is it any different than the alliances that exist today?” countered the Torak lord. “While those alliances may not be bound by Vows of Service, they are just as strong. This will be no different.”

“You make a good case,” Katzu stated after a moment of hesitation. “There are many different levels of alliance with the Imperial Palace, and Lords’ Council members come and go. You may control two seats after this event, but that is not guaranteed to last.”

“I will not use Lord Patel to do anything that is not in the best interests of Khadora,” Lord Marak promised. “You will not get that vow from any other members of the Lords’ Council.”

“You are correct about that,” Katzu said as he pictured the Lords’ Council members. “At least you are trying to solve your problems through negotiations. I do think that you have a future as a mediator.”

“How did you become a mediator, Katzu?” asked Lord Marak.

“That is a long story,” frowned Katzu. “My father was the lord of a founding clan. I grew up with all of the education and privileges that such a founding lord’s family was afforded, but I grew disenchanted with the way disputes were solved. Nobody appeared willing to talk about their problems. The first avenue in a dispute was always warfare. My father was no exception, although I knew him to be a kind man. I began to realize that it was not my father’s fault that he acted as he did. It was the culture that we lived in. I wanted so much to change that culture.”

“Were you first in line for the lordship?” asked Lord Marak.

“I was,” nodded Katzu, “but I know what you are thinking. You think that once I became the lord of a powerful clan, that I could affect changes by negotiating my own conflicts. I thought that for a while, too, but I soon realized that was mere folly. It takes two to negotiate, and other lords only recognized force.”

“So what did you do?” asked the Torak lord.

“When my father became a member of the Lords’ Council,” continued Katzu, “I got to see how it operated. I learned about the mediators and what they did. I made my mind up then that the greatest thing that I could do in my short life was to become the best mediator that Khadora had ever seen.”

“I believe most lords would agree that you have obtained your goal,” smiled Lord Marak. “Your words are never disputed.”

“No, they aren’t,” agreed Katzu, “but as with Lord Ridak, there are times when my rulings are ignored. You cannot believe how much that bothers me.”

“I believe that I can,” offered Lord Marak. “Like you, I look forward to the day when all Khadorans will act as brothers instead of scrambling to take advantage of each other.” Lord Marak sighed. “Perhaps we should get some sleep while we can. It is going to be a long day and a longer night.”

* * *

It was dark when Gunta woke Lord Marak. The Torak lord rose and gazed up at the sky. Clouds had moved in, and Marak nodded with satisfaction. He had been worried about the light of the moon giving the Nordon troops an advantage.

“Why was I not woken at midday?” asked Lord Marak

“There was no reason to disturb your slumber,” answered Gunta. “Lord Patel has received your message. Almost all of his forces left shortly after midday. I estimate that there are only two cortes guarding the estate. I figured that this night is going to be quite tiring for you, and you will not get rest come morning, either.”

“What about the reinforcements from the other estates?” asked the Torak lord.

“They were thinking of riding through the night,” replied Gunta, “but StarWind discouraged them. She did not elaborate. They will not arrive before morning.”

“Excellent,” smiled Lord Marak. “What is the status of the two cortes?”

“One corte has gone to barracks,” reported Gunta. “Of the other corte, two squads are at the front of the mansion, and one is patrolling. They are not Lord Patel’s best troops. Their patrols are sloppy, and the men appear to sense no danger. I suspect that most of the second corte will retire soon.”

“That is the problem with only training a select group of your army,” Lord Marak shook his head. “There are times when they are needed in more than one place. When are we due to move out?”

“On your orders,” replied Gunta. “We could wait a couple of more hours, but I think that decision is best made by you.”

“Send Botal, Mistake, and Katzu to me,” ordered Lord Marak. “I want to grab a bite to eat before we leave.”

Gunta nodded and ran off into the dark. Lord Marak grabbed some dried meat and a chunk of bread and sat on a log. Within moments Gunta returned with the people he had been sent for.

“We will be moving out shortly, Botal,” Lord Marak stated. “I want one corte to leave immediately and make their way around to the front of the estate. They are to remain hidden unless they hear the sounds of battle. Send Latril with them.”

Botal nodded and disappeared to give the orders to the Torak soldiers.

“Why do you send the woman with the troops?” asked Katzu.

Lord Marak ignored the question. He did not want to explain his means of communicating to anyone just yet.

“Mistake,” Lord Marak continued, “I want you by my side at all times. When I signal you, you are to use a tyrik dart on the person I point to. Remember, speed is not important here. Silence is.”